Presidential election in Alaska, 2016

Alaska Choose a different state Select a state Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming General election in Alaska Date: November 8, 20162016 winner: Donald TrumpElectoral votes: Three2012 winner: Mitt Romney (R) Democratic Caucuses Date: March 26, 2016Winner: Bernie Sanders Republican Caucuses Date: March 1, 2016Winner: Ted Cruz Down ballot races in Alaska U.S. SenateU.S. HouseAlaska State SenateAlaska House of RepresentativesAlaska judicial electionsAlaska local judicial electionsState ballot measuresSchool board electionsMunicipal electionsClick here for more elections in Alaska

Alaska held an election for the president of the United States on November 8, 2016. Republican caucuses took place on March 1, 2016. Democratic caucuses took place on March 26, 2016.

General election candidates and results

See also: Ballot access for presidential candidates

The candidate list below is based on an official list on the Alaska elections website. The candidate names below appear in the order in which they were listed on the official list—not necessarily the order in which they appeared on the ballot in November. Write-in candidates were not included in the list below.

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Presidential candidates on the ballot in Alaska

☐ Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley (Constitution) ☐ Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (Democratic) ☐ Rocky De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg (Non-affiliated) ☐ Gary Johnson/Bill Weld (Libertarian) ☐ Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka (Green) ☑ Donald Trump/Mike Pence (Republican)

Results

Historical election trends

See also: Presidential election accuracy

Below is an analysis of Alaska’s voting record in presidential elections from 1960—the first year Alaska participated in a general election for president—to 2016. The state’s accuracy is based on the number of times a state has voted for a winning presidential candidate. The majority of statistical data is from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and was compiled, here, by Ballotpedia, unless otherwise noted.

Presidential election voting record in Alaska, 1960-2016

Between 1960 and 2016:

• Alaska participated in 15 presidential elections.
• Alaska voted for the winning presidential candidate 60 percent of the time.
• Alaska voted Democratic 6.67 percent of the time and Republican 93.33 percent of the time.

Presidential election voting record in Alaska, 2000-2016

• Accuracy: 60 percent[1]
• 2000 state winner: George W. Bush (R)*
• 2004 state winner: George W. Bush (R)*
• 2008 state winner: John McCain (R)
• 2012 state winner: Mitt Romney (R)
• 2016 state winner: Donald Trump (R)*

*An asterisk indicates that that candidate also won the national electoral vote in that election.

Election results

2012

U.S. presidential election, Alaska, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes Democratic Barack Obama/Joe Biden Incumbent 40.8% 122,640 0 Republican Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan 54.8% 164,676 3 Libertarian Gary Johnson/Jim Gray 2.5% 7,392 0 Green Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala 1% 2,917 0 Write-in Write-in candidates 1% 2,870 0 Total Votes 300,495 3 Election results via: Alaska Secretary of State

2008

U.S. presidential election, Alaska, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes Democratic Barack Obama/Joe Biden 37.9% 123,594 0 Republican John McCain/Sarah Palin 59.4% 193,841 3 Independent Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez 1.2% 3,783 0 Libertarian Bob Barr/Wayne Allyn Root 0.5% 1,589 0 American Independent Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle 0.5% 1,660 0 Write-in Write-in candidates 0.5% 1,730 0 Total Votes 326,197 3 Election results via: Alaska Secretary of State

Electoral votes

See also: Electoral College

The president of the United States is not elected by popular vote but rather by electors in the Electoral College. In fact, when Americans vote for president, they are actually voting for a slate of electors selected by members of Democratic and Republican state parties or nominated in some other fashion. Under this system, which is laid out in Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution, each state is allocated one electoral vote for every member of their congressional delegation, meaning one for each member of the U.S. House and one for each of their two Senators.

Alaska electors

In 2016, Alaska had three electoral votes. Alaska’s share of electoral votes represented 0.5 percent of the 538 electoral votes up for grabs in the general election and 1.1 percent of the 270 votes needed to be elected president. Democratic and Republican electors in Alaska in 2016 were chosen at state conventions.

“Faithless electors”

The U.S. Constitution does not dictate how presidential electors are to cast their votes, but, in general, electors are expected to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state or the candidates of the party that nominated them to serve as electors. Electors who choose not to vote for the winner of the popular vote or the candidates of the party that nominated them are known as “faithless electors.” Faithless electors are rare. Between 1900 and 2012, there were only eight known instances of faithless electors.

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Several states have passed laws against faithless electors and require electors to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, for the candidate of the party that nominated them to serve as electors, or in accordance with any pledge they may have been required to make at the time of their nomination. In states with these types of laws, faithless electors can be fined or replaced, or their votes can be nullified.[2][3]

Alaska was one of 31 states in 2016—including the District of Columbia—with a law seeking to bind the votes of presidential electors.

Down ballot races

See also: Alaska elections, 2016

Below is a list of down ballot races in Alaska covered by Ballotpedia in 2016.

• U.S. Senate – Incumbent: Lisa Murkowski (R)
• U.S. House
• Alaska State Senate
• Alaska House of Representatives
• Alaska judicial elections
• Alaska local judicial elections
• State ballot measures
• School board elections
• Municipal elections

Caucuses (March 2016)

Quick facts

Democrats:

• 2016 Democratic winner: Bernie Sanders
• 2008 Democratic winner: Barack Obama
• Type: Caucus
• Delegate allocation: Proportional
• Pledged delegates at stake: 16

Republicans

• 2016 Republican winner: Ted Cruz
• 2012 Republican winner: Mitt Romney
• Type: Caucus
• Delegate allocation: Proportional
• Pledged delegates at stake: 28

Democrats

Bernie Sanders won the Alaska Democratic caucus. He beat Hillary Clinton by more than 60 points. Alaska’s caucus precincts are divided up by the state’s legislative districts. Sanders won all 40 of them. Sixteen pledged delegates were up for grabs. In 2008, Clinton lost Alaska to Barack Obama 25 to 75 percent. Two other western states also held Democratic caucuses on March 26: Washington and Hawaii.

Republicans

Ted Cruz won the 2016 Alaska Republican caucuses. The race was the last contest to be called on Super Tuesday and proved to be one of the most competitive. Cruz defeated Donald Trump by less than 630 votes. The victory marked Cruz’s third win of the evening. Former Alaska governor and 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Trump in January 2016. Cruz won all the legislative districts surrounding the city of Fairbanks and most districts around the cities of Anchorage and Juneau.[4]

Caucus results

Democrats

Alaska Democratic Caucus, 2016 Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates Bernie Sanders 81.1% 437 13 Hillary Clinton 18.9% 102 3 Roque De La Feunte 0% 0 0 Other 0% 0 0 Totals 539 16 Source: CNN and Alaska Democratic Party Vote totals reflect the number of state convention delegates won.

Republicans

Alaska Republican Caucus, 2016 Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates Ted Cruz 36.4% 7,973 12 Donald Trump 33.5% 7,346 11 Marco Rubio 15.1% 3,318 5 Ben Carson 10.9% 2,401 0 John Kasich 4.1% 892 0 Other 0% 0 0 Totals 21,930 28 Source: CNN and The New York Times

Delegates

Delegate selection

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

Democratic Party

Alaska had 20 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 16 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state’s primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state’s pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide caucus results.[5][6]

Four party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state’s primary or caucus.[5][7]

Alaska superdelegates

See also: Superdelegates from Alaska, 2016 and Superdelegates and the 2016 Democratic National Convention

• Casey Steinau
• Ian N. Olson

• Kimberly Metcalfe
• Larry Murakami

Republican Party

Alaska had 28 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, three were district-level delegates (three for the state’s single congressional district). District-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 13 percent of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to win a share of Alaska’s district delegates.[8][9]

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Of the remaining 25 delegates, 22 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 13 percent of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to win a share of Alaska’s at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention.[8][9]

Republican delegates

See also: Republican delegates from Alaska, 2016 and RNC delegate guidelines from Alaska, 2016

• Ardy Robertson
• Bethany Marcum
• Casey Dschaak
• Cynthia Henry
• Dave Donley
• Doyle Holmes
• Elijah Verhagen
• Erick Cordero

• Fred Brown (Alaska)
• Glenda Ledford
• Glenn Clary
• Jerry Ward
• Jesse Clutts
• Jill Schaefer
• Jim Crawford (Alaska)
• John Moller

• Judy Eledge
• Kristie Babcock
• Larry DeVilbiss
• Mary Ann Pruitt
• Mike Tauriainen
• Peggy Wilson
• Peter Goldberg
• Ralph Seekins

• Sharon Jackson (Alaska)
• Trevor Shaw
• Tuckerman Babcock
• Vonna Husby
• Will Treadwell

Presidential voting history

Alaska presidential election results (1900-2020)

• 1 Democratic win
• 15 Republican wins

State profile

Demographic data for Alaska daypg.com population:737,709316,515,021 Land area (sq mi):570,6413,531,905Race and ethnicity** White:66%73.6% Black/African American:3.4%12.6% Asian:5.9%5.1% Native American:13.8%0.8% Pacific Islander:1.2%0.2% Two or more:8.4%3% Hispanic/Latino:6.5%17.1%Education High school graduation rate:92.1%86.7% College graduation rate:28%29.8%Income Median household income:$72,515$53,889 Persons below poverty level:11.3%11.3%Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “American Community Survey” (5-year estimates 2010-2015)Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Alaska. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Alaska

Alaska voted Republican in all five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016.

More Alaska coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Alaska
• United States congressional delegations from Alaska
• Public policy in Alaska
• Influencers in Alaska
• Alaska fact checks
• More…

See also

• Presidential election, 2016
• Presidential candidates, 2016

Footnotes

2016 United States Presidential ElectionOverviewsCandidate profilesPath to the presidencyPolicy positionsOn the campaign trailCampaign staffDebatesAnalysis BallotpediaAboutEditorial 2016 Presidential Primaries and CaucusesOverviewsContests by stateContests by territory State of AlaskaJuneau (capital)Elections

Alaska elections in 2021 | Voting in Alaska | What’s on my ballot? | Elections calendar | Election governance | Ballot access for candidates | Ballot access for parties | Campaign finance requirements | Redistricting

Ballotmeasures

List of Alaska ballot measures | Local measures | Ballot measure laws | Campaign finance requirements

Government

Who represents me? | Congressional delegation | State executives | State legislature | State Senate | House of Representatives | 2021 legislative session | Largest counties | Largest cities | School districts in Alaska | State constitution

Judiciary

Courts in Alaska | Judicial Selection | Federal courts | Supreme Court | Court of Appeals | Superior Courts | District Courts

PublicPolicy

Budget and finances | Energy | Environment | Financial regulation | Healthcare | Immigration | Public education | Public pensions | Taxes